The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Report, in February, stated that cholesterol doesn't come as a nutrient of concern for overconsumption.

It brought smiles on the faces of a lot of people as they are expecting once again to fill their bellies with unlimited amounts of butter, cheese, sausage and steak. But at the same time many notable doctors and scientists have balked and protested against it.

In the March 24 testimony before the advisory committee, Neal D. Barnard, founding president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said, "The result has been a green light for people to eat unhealthful foods. The committee made a scientific error on cholesterol, and to carry that mistake into the guidelines is not scientifically defensible and serves only to perpetuate confusion".

Many critics have said that the conclusion that eating foods high in cholesterol like eggs does not affect blood cholesterol levels has flawed science.

The conclusion has also raised another concern that people will use the pronouncement as a license to eat as much high-cholesterol foods as they want, which will significantly cause harm to their health.

Many have argued that the other components in foods with cholesterol in it can pose health risks, including saturated fat.

In the testimony, Dr. Barnard also said that most of the members of the public don't tell the differences between dietary cholesterol and blood cholesterol or the effects of dietary cholesterol from the risk of foods containing it.

While coming to a step further, Michael Greger of NutritionFacts. com stated that dietary cholesterol not only raises blood cholesterol but also increases the risk of diabetes, cancers and liver disease such as nonalcoholic cirrhosis, cancer and hepatitis C.

Every five years, the US Department of Agriculture updates the science-based dietary guidelines. The new guidelines are expected by the end of this year.

This time, the committee is looking forward to overturn the 2010 guidelines, recommending less than 300 milligrams a day of dietary cholesterol, with a national average of 340 milligrams.